Roy said he plans to engage in a hard pregame workout tonight, during which he will experiment executing all his moves.

"Who knows, in warmups I might do some move and it might lock up,'' Roy said. "And I might have to tell coach, 'As bad as I want to, I can't move'. But we will see. The good thing is it's not the heel or knee.''

Oden's status carries no drama. He will definitely play. In fact, McMillan said Oden told him Tuesday night that he was going to play.

"I'm excited,'' Oden said. "Hopefully I can play a full game tonight. I'm going to go hard and hopefully some good things come out.''

"I can't really look left to right," said Aldridge. "On one of my layups (against Orlando) I couldn't really look up at the rim. The things that you take for granted are actually hard; when you're on defense looking left to right, trying to look up when you shoot it. All of those things. It was hurting Monday night, so I'm trying to get it fixed so I can do all of those things (against Miami)."

LA received massage treatment throughout the game against the Magic, though the infirmity didn't keep him from recording his second double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) of the season, which begs the question: How do you score and board without being able to move your head?

Said Aldridge: "I think most of my shots were jump shots, so you just got to look straight and shoot it."

But the more significant change, at least during Oden's initial return, is the way McMillan envisions Oden's place in the offense. During training camp and at the start of the season it seemed as though running plays for Oden, allowing him to get the ball in the post, was one of the priorities. But now that the season is in full swing, the onus, according to head coach Nate McMillan, is on Oden to fit into the team, not the other way around.

"I want us to play as if he is not here," said McMillan after shootaround. "Keep playing that way. He needs to catch up to where we are and what we are doing, and not us getting in atmosphere of being relaxed and expecting him to do all these things. He needs to fit into what we are trying to do and how we are playing. We need to continue to move forward as far as what we need to do.

Roy faces a tough test tonight, as he'll be counted on to once again set up Portland's offense, and will also have to defend Miami's Dwyane Wade. Wade is off to a great start this season, and is a big reason why the Heat are 3-0 at home.

Roy is Portland's best perimeter defender, but second on that list is probably Jerryd Bayless, who hasn't played much so far this season. I wouldn't be shocked to see Bayless get some minutes tonight, simply to defend Wade.

On Miami's side, Shawn Marion sat out their last game on Monday, with a sore groin. Even though it's still bothering him, he's expected to play tonight.

Judging by the enormous image of Oden on the Miami Heraldsports front, people are ready to get a look at the big man. The Heat player that will get the closest look will be 6-8 Udonis Haslem, but he's up for it:

Udonis Haslem, 6-8, starts at center on a Heat front line that lacks height.

But Haslem, who already has guarded Tim Duncan and Tyson Chandler this season, is comfortable facing tall challenges.

''It's no different than playing Shaq every day in practice,'' Haslem said of Shaquille O'Neal, who was traded by the Heat last season. ``It'll be a battle. But I just have to do what I do. Make him run, make him work as hard as possible.''

'I definitely feel better,'' Marion said after Tuesday's practice. "I did some little exercises and a few things.''

Marion said he hopes treatment will allow him to heal enough to play but that he would be cautious because he does not want the groin injury to linger.

The Heat are coming off a come-from-behind win last night in which Dwyane Wade blew up for 19 points in the fourth. After a disappointing run last season, Wade appears to be back to his NBA Finals MVP form. A bad back from Brandon Roy is going to mean more help defense on the Heat's best player.

MIAMI -- Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been amazing this season. He's scored 30 or more points in his past three games. He was one assist shy of a triple-double against San Antonio. He ranks third in scoring (27.1 points per game), fifth in assists (7.6) and second in steals (2.86).

And he could be even better at 8 tonight when the Heat (4-3), which is riding a three-game home win streak, hosts Portland (3-2) in a nationally-televised game on ESPN. That's because Wade will be matched against Brandon Roy, Portland's All-Star guard who is averaging 20.7 points and 5.7 assists per game.

"It sharpens you," Wade said of defending dangerous scorers, "because it keeps you aware of the game knowing you can't fall asleep at all."

1. The key to beating Miami so far has been twofold. First, make Wade shoot a ton of shots to get his points. He'll always notch them but there's a difference between 40% and 50% shooting for him. Part of that difference is the number of shots left over for the rest of the players, which brings up the second key: Don't let more than one of them in addition to Wade go off. Stay home, keep in front of your man, and keep your hand in his face. 30, 16, and a bunch of 9's in the scoring column for Miami gives you a shot to win.
2. They're going to turn you over so you need to get back and prevent those turnovers from turning into easy points. Also you're a leg up if you can also force turnovers from them. Relative points off of turnovers should be a big stat in this game.

One player that played an important role in Portland's success last season was veteran James Jones, now a member of the Heat (though inactive due to injury). Veteran presence is key to success for many teams with post-season aspirations. The Blazers have a pair of vets in Steve Blake and Joel Przybilla, and Brandon Roy to an extent. But Wendell Maxey wonders if these Blazers need more veteran presence.

Aldridge is the kind of long, versatile power forward that should give Beasley a hard time. I think he'll hold his own. Beasley will be more than willing to bang with the larger Aldridge, and I don't see Aldridge doing much to slow Beasley's array of offensive moves. Plus, Beasley is a prime-time dude, so he'll be on point for the ESPN audience. Not that Beasley needs a breakout game, but this could be one.

Opposing player I'm scared of: Travis Outlaw.

He's a very difficult player to guard if his jumper's falling, and an absent or limited Marion could unleash him. Outlaw also craves any opportunity to be a top scoring option, and if Oden and/or Roy is out, that bumps him up the list.

Miami also has offensive weapons in Marion, Beasley and both Daequan Cook and Chris Quinn have shown an ability to shoot the three. Only important because of the fact that the Blazers have shown a willingness early this year to give up the three-point shot. With a slasher like Wade penetrating and kicking...you see where I'm going. Mario Chalmers and Haslem may not be major offensive threats but they can score and more importantly they play defense. Led by The Chameleon (you'll have to ask) Erik Spoelstra, this team is not going to let teams score easily.